This invention pertains generally to digital imaging devices, and more particularly to a method for generating a cover page for a facsimile transmission.
Digital imaging devices (“DID”) are complex machines that often perform a plurality of functions. DIDs suitably include devices such as printers, fax machines, scanners, copiers, multi-functional peripherals (“MFPs”), and other like peripheral devices. In addition, DIDs are suitably connected to a network or directly to computer. When a user at a computer communicates with a DID, either directly or over a network, at DID device driver is accessed which is linked both to the computer operating system (“OS”) and the DID. Device drivers are pieces of software that enable computers to communicate with peripheral devices. In doing so, they are responsible for accessing hardware registers of the device. Device drivers often form part of the lowest level of an operating system (“OS”) kernel, with which they are linked when the kernel is built. OS also accept loadable device drivers that can be installed after the OS is running.
In the case where the DID performs fax functions, the fax properties of the DID for a fax job are suitably set through a fax driver stored on a computer. These fax properties suitably include whether or not a cover sheet is generated by the fax driver and DID. In addition, if a cover sheet is to be generated, the fax properties suitably include the particular information to be included on the fax cover sheet. The various options for cover sheet information selection can cause the cover sheet for a fax to become two or more sheets, depending on the information on the cover sheet. Consequently, when a document is sent from a computer to a DID processing, the total number of pages of the document and cover sheet combination suitably varies. It would be preferable if the fax driver and DID were capable of determining the total number of pages of the document and cover sheet combination.
Furthermore, when a fax job is generated from a software program (i.e. spreadsheet software, word processing software, text editors, etc.) on a computer (“PC fax) the software program does not necessarily calculate the number of pages to be printed. Consequently, the number of pages to be printed in the fax document may not be determined when a fax driver sends a fax to a DID for processing. Therefore, generating a fax cover sheet that includes a number representing the number of pages in the fax document to which the cover sheet corresponds is problematic. It would be preferable if the fax driver and DID were capable of generating the total number of pages of the fax document regardless of the software program from which the fax job originated.